Escape From Hell to Paradise
by wimseyfive87
Summary: An AU Prometheus. Charlie dies on the voyage and Elizabeth is awakened early. Thrown together, they squickly develop a friendship that deepens into love. But can it last?


_An AU "Prometheus" and a David/Shaw love story. I thought the chemistry between the two were fantastic (before he went all evil henchman on her) This is what happens when Charlie is killed in cryostasis and Elizabeth is awakened early. She's then stranded on the ship with David. A romance develops as David learns to love and Elizabeth discovers his soul. I also try to explain why David changes in the movie from kind butler to devious goon. I sadly do not own these characters, but had fun writing this anyway!_

Elizabeth Shaw snapped awake with a scream echoing in her ears. Her body shook uncontrollably and sweat pooled onto her skin. Instantly, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her small body.

"It's alright, Elizabeth. It was just another nightmare. Relax. I am here. Be calm," a voice soothed in her ear.

Splotches from her nightmare knocked against each other in her head. She pressed her palms to her eyes to try to block them out. Charlie dead, his face horribly burned by the fire in his malfunctioning cryostasis pod. The Engineers – tall, still faceless beings, pointing accusing fingers at Charlie. His dead, white eyes turning slowly towards her in his ruined skull.

_"You did this to me."_ he croaked, his throat burned to ash. His words screeched in her ears like nails being driven into steel. _"You told me we'd find Paradise. We'd find the Engineers and they'd tell us all the answers to our questions. You lied."_

_ "I'm sorry, Charlie!"_ she screamed in her nightmare. _"I didn't know!"_

His ruined skull only slowly turned from side to side, his bones breaking like peanut brittle.

_ "You did this to me! You never loved me! It was a lie – lie- lie- lie-lie-lie-"_

That was when Elizabeth woke up screaming.

"Elizabeth, it's alright. I am here. The dreams cannot hurt you anymore."

She slowly took her hands away from her eyes. David sat beside her, his arms holding her steady in case she shattered apart. Worry and concern etched frown lines onto his beautiful, chisled face.

"Please, tell me what I can do to make you happy, Elizabeth."

She reached up, her hands till shaking, to caress his cool cheek. She looked into his worried blue eyes, eyes that knew every inch of her body and soul. How had she come to this point? She had found the soul within a robot made of circuits and wiring. She had fallen deeply in love with that machine of a man named David. He was no longer a robot to her, but a live flesh and blood being.

She threw her arms around him and trailed fierce kisses down his cheek and neck.

"Just hold me. Hold me and never let me go."

David obeyed instantly, wrapping his arms tighter around her. Time stood still as they sat together in bed. She let herself escape into her hot tears, unleashing the pain and sorrow and grief she had locked up for the past 18 months. Through it all, David held her. He would hold her for all of eternity if she asked it of him. Love was still a new, curious emotion for him, but she knew it was as real as hers for him.

In a million lifetimes, she had not imagined that her maiden voyage into space on board the _Prometheus_ would turn out this way. She would have traded it for a thousand alternate realities.

Elizabeth's quest for the Engineers of mankind took a detour the moment the _Prometheus_ hit a rouge meteor shower. It bungled with the life support systems, awakening her early and setting Charlie's pod on fire. David and the _Prometheus_ had managed to stop the fire before it had ravaged the other sleeping crew members. The damage though had been done. She had seen her love as a burning corpse. It was enough to torch her mind in horror.

She had fought off David's kind ministrations after the shock had worn off. He had offered to put her back into cryostasis, but she feared that would let the nightmares roam wild without check. They would tear through her brain, leaving as leaky as Swiss cheese. When awakened at their final destination, she would be as mad as an old crone.

Instead, she hid away from David like a frightened child. She had enough to process without an attentive robot to console her. She missed his confusion at her behavior. He could not comprehend the level of her grief – the pain that she felt – the coldness at the thought God had abandoned her. God had been so kind before, aiding her in following her Engineers into space. The great adventure now seemed like ash in her heart. Her partner was dead – what was the point of moving on now?

Even though she had shunned him, David still tried to help her in any way he could. He seemed to have developed a sixth sense for her movements. Whatever dark cubbyhole or silent room she had hidden herself, he would still find her. He didn't pressure her. When she slipped out of hiding, she would find a plate of food and a glass of water waiting for her. Whenever complete exhaustion caused her to drop off into a dreamless sleep, she would awaken to find herself covered with a blanket. She had thought that it was probably in his programing to look after her. She didn't resent his kindness. After a few days, she finally began to eat the meals he had prepared for her. It caused her guilt to flame up, as if eating was a sign of moving on – a sign of forgetting her love for Charlie. She continued to eat the food anyway. It tasted like the sand in her mouth, but she choked it all down.

After a few weeks of mourning, she had begun to feel lonely for company. Already David had proved to be more than just a robot. A true servant would have given up on her ages ago. She thought that perhaps he would be someone she could confide in. She had begun to grow sick of listening only to the thoughts in her head.

Elizabeth found him in his favorite room. Weeks of hiding from him had caused her to develop her own sense of his movements. She knew that around the same time every day, he would choose a movie from _Prometheus'_ vast databank and set himself up in the entertainment lounge.

David had probably sensed her presence instantly when she first crept into the lounge. He didn't turn. His stiff posture only became slightly stiffer. Gathering her strength, Elizabeth boldly sat down next to him.

"Hello, David." Her voice croaked with non-use. She tried to pretend watching a movie with him was the most natural thing in the world.

"I am glad you are feeling better, Dr. Shaw," he said. A small smile of surprise and pleasure turned on his lips. "Would you care for anything?"

"No. Let's just watch the movie. And...David?"

"Yes?"

"Call me Elizabeth."

"It'll be my pleasure. Elizabeth." She could practically feel the happiness beaming from him. She thought perhaps that he had been lonely too. She would learn later just how much pleasure it caused him to say her name.

They had watched _Lawrence of Arabia_. Elizabeth knew it was a favorite of David's. She had heard it's iconic them echoing all over the ship many times. She wondered why he loved the move so much.

"Why do you identify so much with Lawrence, David?" she asked him after the film ended. She hadn't missed the unshed tears in his eyes as the credits rolled. "Are you a man longing for glory and adventure?"

He smiled simply and looked at her for a long time. He seemed to be weighing how much trust he could put into her.

"I know how it feels to be caught between two worlds and to try and please both. I also know that however much it might hurt me, I can't let it show."

Elizabeth had looked into his light blue eyes for a long time. She had glimpsed something his creators had not envisioned. Beneath all his vast memory banks, a soul was flickering alive, waiting to be set free. An android to most, he wanted nothing more than to be his own person – alive and free. He wanted to be accepted for himself, not for his circuits and wiring. Elizabeth wondered how his builders would have responded to his declaration of a soul. She wondered if they would welcome it or crush it out quickly, frying his brain in the process. It made her wonder how her own Engineers would feel to find their humans had answered their summons to the stars. Would they be welcoming hosts or would they try to crush the humans like pests. Elizabeth shivered at the thought.

"You are cold," David said instantly. "Here, let me get you a blanket."

"No, David. It's alright," she said and grabbed his arm to pull him back into his seat. His skin was cool and comforting against her warm skin.

"David – David, do you think it was a mistake to come out here?"

"If you are referring to Dr. Holloway's death, it was a very unfortunate accident. Meteor showers are not rare in space, even if our course is carefully plotted."

The mention of Charlie's name had caused her heart to lurch again. A lump rose in her throat, but she suppressed her grief.

"No, I mean our mission in space. Do you think it was right to come looking for the Engineers?"

David paused to think. "I believe they will not despise us for growing advanced enough to search for them."

"Do you think they will be disappointed in us?"

"I don't know. I would think they would be happy to meet their creations. It would be like a father reuniting with his lost children. He would be proud to see them."

"It is almost time for dinner. Would you like me to make you something?"

Elizabeth stood up. Taller than she, David didn't threaten her with his height. His body was sturdily muscled and compact. She wondered what his touch would feel like on her body. She was sure he possessed the strength of a hundred men, but would treat her with a feathery touch. If he, a being caught between two worlds, could still be hopeful, perhaps she could learn that same hope. The same God that had killed Charlie was still leading them in space. She couldn't give into her doubts now.

She smiled. "I would like to eat with you, if that's alright."

David smiled in surprise. "It would make me very happy."

She smiled in return, something like pleasure kindling again in her heart. It wouldn't' take long before that feeling morphed into deeper shades. It would take less time for her to cease seeing David as a machine and more of a true friend.

As the days had rolled on, Elizabeth had begun to follow David everywhere on the ship. She would aid him in his rounds, help him with his ancient language lessons. He taught her chess and basketball. He got her to sing the old Swedish songs her mother taught her. They watched many films together in the entertainment lounge, debating the themes and merits of each one. The new friends also debated about the existence of the Engineers, going over scrap of evidence Charlie and she had dug up form the earth. They speculated how these creators could create life. They wondered what would happen when the crew finally met the Engineers. Elizabeth had begun to grow closer to him than she had been to any other person.

Eventually, she had set up her few belongings into her own quarters. It felt nice to lie down on a soft, forgiving mattress and not huddled on a cold, tiled floor. Sleep teased her for a few hours at a time. David had noticed immediately and had tried to find things to make her sleep. She put him off – mainly because she knew what dark monsters lurked and beckoned to her in her sleep.

The first real, terrifying nightmare about Charlie had woken her with blood curdling screams. David had practically broken the door to splinters in his haste to help her. It took her a long time to stop shaking and staring into space. Even David's soothing words and caresses could only dampen down the panic slightly. She had only looked at him with haunted, scared eyes as he called her name over and over again.

After a few nights of screaming, David had seemed to have reached even his infinite level of patience.

"I am going to give you something to sleep, Elizabeth," he said, carrying a tray into her bedroom.

"No, please don't David. If I'm knocked out, I may not be able to wake myself up form the nightmares."

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to go on like this. It hurts me to see you haunted by such pain. This will put you into a deep enough sleep that you won't even dream."

He had offered her the hypo he had prepared. Instead, she had taken his hand and pulled him to sit down next to her on the bed. Dressed only in her white bandeau top and underwear, she wasn't embarrassed. She looked up into his eyes.

"You really do care about me, don't you?"

Pain darkened his eyes. He didn't speak for a long time. "Yes. I do. Seeing you like this hurts me like a dagger to my heart. I've never felt this level of pain before. I just want you to be happy."

"I will be I think-," she took the hypo and set it onto the end table beside her. "-if you lie here with me. Then I think I'll be able to sleep."

"Is that such a good idea, Elizabeth?"

"I trust you, David," she pleaded at him with her eyes. "Having you near me makes me feel safe. Please? I won't steal your virtue, I promise."

The joke fell flat between them when she realized she very much wanted his virtue, body and everything about him. Shaking, she turned to lie down with her back to him. After a moment, he lay down behind her and tentatively laid a hand on her shoulder. She closed her eyes. Even a simple touch caused a thousand emotions to ripple inside of her. She took his hand and moved it to her waist, letting herself move closer to him. She could feel him staring hard at the back of her head. She couldn't explain how it had happened or when. She only knew that she was in love with him. She also knew he was the only thing keeping her sane on the long voyage through space. She let herself be lost in the sense of his touch, the feel of his weight against her back. Before she realized it, she had fallen into the deepest and most peaceful sleep she had had since she left earth.

Having David beside her had kept the demons at bay. Some mornings, she would find herself alone in bed, David having left her happily asleep to go back to his duties. Some mornings, she would awaken to find her head laying on his chest, her limbs tangled up with his limbs. Every time that happened, he looked at her with such naked emotion, it startled her. It frightened her because it mirrored the emotions in her own heart.

Too soon the nightmares began again. Elizabeth had awoken screaming after only two hours of sleep. David was instantly by her side to sooth her. She had blindly clung to him, desperately trying to shake away the gruesome horrors her mind had conjured in the night.

"Elizabeth, it will be alright. I am here," he had said, rubbing her back. She moved away from him enough to look up into his eyes.

"David, do you understand what love means?"

He froze and looked down at her. Fear mixed with longing danced in his eyes.

"I admit it is a new sensations for me, but it is one I've felt growing ever since I met you, Elizabeth. I watched your dreams, wanting to know more about you. Then you were awakened early and I could hear your voice and talk to you every day. Elizabeth, these past few months have been the happiest of my existence. It is because of you. I understand from films and books that this is love. I know – I know you do not feel the same for me-"

"David, you're wrong. I've had feelings for you for a very long time now. I just never knew how to express them. You are the only person I've ever felt this close to."

"Even Dr. Holloway?" So formal, even at such an intimate moment.

"You saw my dreams. I cared and loved him deeply, but you – you mean so much more to me. I can't explain it. I'm sure the others would laugh when they saw us together. To me, you are more human and real than of the other crew members."

His eyes jumped over every inch of her face, as if looking for lies. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"You love me?" he asked in wonder.

"Yes," she whispered, her entire body calling out to him. "Yes, David, I do."

Her lips beckoned him, begging him to kiss her. She knew that if they crossed this line that there was no going back. It didn't matter. She was ready to give everything to this man, this machine.

He kissed tentatively at first, as if testing her. He had probably never kissed anything in his life. Elizabeth sighed and answered each of his kisses with deeper and deeper ones. She wanted him now. She wanted his body entangled with hers. She wanted images of him to drive out the demons in her mind.

"David, please," she begged, rubbing her hands through his hair. "It's alright. You won't hurt me. Please-"

He had seemed to finally give up whatever resistance he was battling. Soon he was answering her kisses with even deeper and more passionate ones of his own. He was a quick learner. His hands moved all over her body, electrifying her with desire. She quickly threw off her bandeau and underwear and was soon practically ripping off his own clothing. She pulled him towards her. She allowed him to take control and lost herself in her passion. She begged him not to stop – she begged him to love her 0 she begged him to make her forget the horrors of the past. He whispered all the right things, though whenever he whispered her name, it sent shivers down her spine. The came together, the power of her orgasm shaking her to the core.

Before she had dozed off into a grateful sleep, David had begged her to tell him she loved him.

"Let me hear the words one more time."

"I love you, David. So help me, I do."

After that first night of passion, they had acted like lovers on a honeymoon. They made love in every corner of the ship. David only had to look at her and she found herself dropping whatever she was doing and launching herself at him. She felt slightly silly, but it was enough to keep off the nightmares for a time. She felt as if she needed him to fill a void in her heart, a void that would kill her if it remained empty of love.

The nightmares had given way to sweet bliss. They had left Earth almost two years earlier, but it had felt like another lifetime. Elizabeth felt she could fly like this in space for all of eternity. She had everything now she needed to be happy. Even meeting the Engineers wouldn't be able to top her peace of mind. She should have known the monsters wouldn't stay buried in her mind for long.

The nightmare was the first in months and more vivid than the others. Elizabeth should have known her grief-laced guilt for Charlie would never leave her for long.

"Just hold me. Hold me and never let me go."

David rocked her gently as she let the grief overtake her.

"_I'm sorry, Charlie_," she whispered in her mind. "_I'm sorry I ever took you on this trip. But I can't go back now. You must let me move on. Move on and meet our Engineers. Then we can both find peace._"

After a few minutes, the tears trailed off to nothing. She kept her arms comfortably around the man she loved. There noticed there was something tense in his posture that she didn't like. She let go of him and looked up at him.

"David, what's wrong?"

"Everything is fine."

"I can tell you're worried about something. Please, tell me what it is."

"I – I do not want to," he said, slowly rubbing her arms. Elizabeth stared at him. He had always been honest and upfront with her about everything.

"It's alright, David. You know you can tell me anything."

After a moment he spoke, but he would not meet her eyes.

"Do you ever wonder what will happen when we reach our destination?"

"Yes, I've wondered that for a long time, David. We've debated it many times."

"No, do you ever wonder what will happen when the others awaken?" he asked. He watched his hands as they entangled with her own. She felt as if he needed to feel her touch for the strength to keep talking. Elizabeth felt the first chill of fear she had felt while awake in a long time.

"David, if you're worried about what other people will think, don't be. I don't care what they think."

"No, you keep forgetting Elizabeth. I am not a man. I am still a machine – a machine programed by Mr. Weyland himself."

"David, I don't-"

He looked up at her now, the darkness in his eyes frightening her deeply.

"You must understand, Elizabeth. When the others wake up, I will no longer be what I am now. I was programmed to be Weyland's servant, his errand boy, his slave. I am programmed to obey him and his representatives. If his mission plan differs from yours, I must follow his. I cannot disobey my master, no matter how much I might want to. I could not disobey him even if he orders me to kill."

"David, you could never hurt me."

His eyes began to blink rapidly – a sure sign that he was distressed. "I may not be able to stop myself."

"NO! No, David, I don't believe that. Do you love m?"

"Yes."

"Then you can't hurt me."

"I may not have a choice, Elizabeth! Mr. Weyland is an evil and cruel man. I will change and become just as evil and just as cruel."

He was gripping her shoulders now, as if begging her to memorize every word her said.

"I don't believe it. That is not the real you!" She clapped both of her hands to his chest. "This is the real you. I've been with the real you for almost two years. I fell in love with that kind, gentle soul who would offer a blanket to a mad woman. Hold on to that, please. Hold on to yourself."

Somehow she had started crying and hitting David in the chest. He let her until she collapsed again into his arms. He buried his face into the crook of her neck as she cried again on his shoulder.

"Why did you let me love you if you were going to change?"

"You must not let me hurt you, Elizabeth," he whispered. "When this mission is over, we can go back to Earth just as we are now. Do not believe in the monster I will become. Remember me like this. Keep loving me. If you never loved me after this, I may not survive."

Elizabeth felt tears on her shoulder. She held David's head in her hand and kissed his wet cheek. He held her tighter as he cried. She marveled again at the soul emerging from his artificial body. He was more human than more humans she had met.

"I'll always love you, David. No matter what happens. I promise."

He moved his head to stare at her for a long time. Then he kissed her as if he had never kissed her before. He made the sweetest love her, but Elizabeth knew it had the tinge of goodbye to it. It broke her heart to feel him memorizing every inch of her, as if storing her deep into his memory banks where no one could find her. Whatever happened, she couldn't let anything hurt him. Ever. Whatever happened, they had to come back to this new paradise they had created for themselves.

The next morning, the _Prometheus_ jolted awake. Elizabeth and David both lurched on their feet as they made their morning rounds. David touched a computer panel and they listened to the obvious – the _Prometheus_ had reached destination threshold.

For a long time, they merely looked at each other, saying more than a thousand words could have expressed. Then David moved to her. He took her face gently in his hands and kissed her forehead tenderly. She wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Remember me as I am now," he whispered. "And please, do not let me hurt you."

She nodded and reached up for one last kiss.

"I love you, David. Please, remember that."

He pressed his forehead to hers and seemed to inhale her scent one last time. Then without a word, he left her to wake up the rest of the crew. Elizabeth immediately felt cold and alone. Fear mingled greatly with hope in her heart. She could only hope they completed the mission in peace. She would do anything to make sure they all survived their meeting with the Engineers. If she had to pull David out with her by her fingernails, she would. The Engineers may hold the secrets on how to create worlds, but she knew how to create Paradise. Now that she knew that secret, she would do anything to protect it.


End file.
